The Merman's Storyteller
by AngelOfBlackBlood
Summary: Moonlight isn't always strong enough to conquer the night.


**Author's Note- Fairytale prompt- The Little Mermaid. **

The lake looked black in the silvery moonlight, the dark colour only broken up by the reflection of stars that shone brightly above. There wasn't a cloud in sight and, only a slight breeze ruffled the surrounding grass.

The surface of the lake was only disturbed by small ripples when the gentle wind brushed across the seemingly smooth black glass. It was unusual for anyone to be around at this time, and normally it was safe for the creatures that were too shy to come out during the day to appear, bur tonight was different.

Sat along one of the banks was a teenager whose hair matched the dark gleam of the lake. This wasn't the first time this boy had been spotted late at night, but it was the closest he had ever gotten to the water.

It wouldn't take much for the boy to slip into the water and be lost to the night and all its mysteries. But it never got that far. Instead the student stayed perched on the bank for a few hours before gathering his reading book and slowly heading back towards the castle.

What the teenager hadn't been aware of was that, while he was engrossed in his book of muggle fairytales, the creatures that usually inhabited the darkness had been watching. One of these creatures looked very much like a boy, not much older than the one who had sat on the bank. However, there was one very big anatomical difference between the two- one had a tail and the other had a pair of legs.

Watching the jet black haired boy became a routine for the tailed blond who hovered just out of sight, and his hair, even dripping wet, was just like the strong colour of the moon.

As the days of watching turned into weeks which turned into months, the aquatic teen began to grow more and more attached to the land-ridden wizard. He soon began reading his stories out loud, aware that someone was watching him every night. The merman eventually began venturing closer and every now and then he would allow the reader on the bank to catch a glimpse of a tail or silver hair, in the hopes of one day enticing him into the water and meeting him properly.

Although this never happened, one day the boy with the hair like night did not return to read by the dark waters, nor did he return the next night or the one after that. The water dwelling teenager began to worry after several days with no sign of the boy with the glasses and fairytales. It would seem that he had been cast aside and forgotten about once again.

Deciding to take things into his own hands for a change, the blond headed off to find his aunt; perhaps she could help him find his lost storyteller.

* * *

><p>Bellatrix wasn't exactly a loving aunt; she had been banished from the Malfoy household some time ago after having an affair with a nasty water goblin by the name of Voldemort. Now she lived in a separate cave, unable to escape the lake in which her old family still resided.<p>

The only exception to her isolation was her young nephew, who always made sure to visit. Although this time he seemed on edge, almost as if he wanted to ask her something but was too afraid to do so.

It took a while, but eventually the young Malfoy made his request and it didn't take Bellatrix long to brew a potion to suit his needs.

The potion would turn Draco into a land dweller for 3 days, and if he hadn't found his storyteller by then, he would have to return to the lake and hope he came back on his own. Of course, these things don't always go to plan.

* * *

><p>The first two days on land were spent wobbling around the castle; a teacher had found the boy shivering from the cold and soaked through to the skin early one morning. He hadn't been able to walk on his new legs straight away; those things were harder to work than they looked.<p>

Halfway through the third day there was still no sign of the night haired boy, not that he would recognise Draco anyway. His once silver hair was now an ugly shade of brown.

Draco had begun to give up hope of ever finding him, and so he spent some time in the Great Hall alongside a few people he had managed to befriend in his short time in the castle.

As it neared the end of his third day on land, Draco finally began to give up. Just as the sun was beginning to set he made his way towards the lake, ready to surrender himself once more to the icy water.

What he wasn't expecting was a head full of black hair to be sitting on the bank reading out loud from a book and occasionally scanning the water in search of something or someone.

Draco tiptoed closer so that he could hear the words the boy was saying and soon he found himself engrossed in the delicate images the words painted in his mind. It took the boy some time to figure out he was being watched from a different angle. His words stuttered to a halt as he slowly turned around to face the stranger watching him.

With the different coloured hair, it was obvious the storyteller did not recognise the person behind him, and Draco didn't have very long to try and explain.

He rushed over his words in his desperation to explain everything before he turned back into a merman, but it didn't take too long for the other boy to catch on, and the smile that split his face was like the sun finally coming up after a very long night.

The realisation of who this brunette was did not come quick enough to prevent the change from happening. The dark haired boy whose name had finally been revealed was just reaching out towards Draco when he felt the first stab of pain in his legs. It was too late, whatever happened now could not be stopped.

Draco soon found himself crouched on the ground a warm hand pressed into his back was the only thing keeping him from toppling head first into the water. Changing into a land dweller hadn't been this painful.

A dark fog began to swirl inside Draco's head, but this was different from the darkness of night.

The last thing Draco saw is the title of the book Harry was reading, The Little Mermaid had always been one of his favourites. Then the darkness consumed him with only the echoing cackle of his nasty old aunt following him. There would be no moonlight to pierce this darkness.


End file.
